


Seven Twenty

by Shaele



Category: K (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Orphanage, Birthday Fluff, Misaki is turning 4, Saruhiko is 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-12-02 18:04:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11514621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shaele/pseuds/Shaele
Summary: Ever since Misaki was admitted to the orphanage he's been attached to Saruhiko.And now that his birthday's coming up, Saruhiko wants to do something special for his one and only friend.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [YuunKingdom](https://archiveofourown.org/users/YuunKingdom/gifts).



> They're kids so please excuse the OOc-ness. I have a vague understanding of how they were as children. ~~I find that making baby stories really help hide the fact my vocabulary is very, very bad.~~
> 
> Anyways, thanks Sam for reading this and encouraging me to write more about this! <3 And thanks for reading it beforehand and catching a lot (if not all) my dumb mistakes.
> 
> For context: HOMRA's an orphanage and everyone is their canon age except for Saruhiko and Misaki.
> 
> Also happy (early?) birthday Misaki!

“Say _aaaah_!”

“No!”

“C’mon, Misaki! _Aaah_!”

“No!” Misaki frowns and crosses his arms defiantly, all the while glaring at Totsuka. “I don’t wanna eat that!”

“But you have to.”

“Why?” He whined, scooting a little farther from one of his caretakers.

“Because it’ll help you grow big and strong!” Totsuka set the plate down and spread his arms out wide. “Don’t you wanna be as big as me?”

“I don’t wanna be big!” The child got up and ran off despite knowing Totsuka would follow right behind him. He wanted his friend, his one and only friend, and if he knew his friend well he would be at…

“Saru!!”

The bedroom. Their bedroom.

Saruhiko looked up at the tiny child. He was busy putting a math puzzle together when all of a sudden he had an armful of baby in his arms.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, half expecting an actual answer from Misaki.

“I wanna play! I don’t wanna eat!” Misaki hugged Saruhiko tight, hoping Totsuka wouldn’t find him.

But of course he did, and when he saw Misaki bundled up in Saru’s arm like a tiny teddy bear be couldn’t help but smile. “He really likes you.” Totsuka remarked, bringing the plate to them. “Feed him, would you?”

Saruhiko nodded; he was smart for his age and he kind of knew that. If anyone could make this troublesome baby listen, it was him. “Okay.”

Totsuka smiled wider and nodded before leaving the two alone. Misaki was a hard kid to deal with but any three-year-old would be. He was the youngest in the orphanage, having lost his family recently during some sort of attack.

Saruhiko is the same, though for some reason he didn’t mind losing his parents. He found happiness with Misaki and that’s all that really mattered to him. Even if they never get adopted it’ll be fine as long as they’re together.

“Misaki,” Saruhiko picked up the spoon and dug into the mashed potatoes, “eat.”

“But I don’t wanna!” Misaki looked up at him, half glaring. “I wanna play!”

Saruhiko sighed. “Let’s eat together then, okay?”

He was very easy to please, and his face began to soften at the idea. “Saru’s gonna eat with me?”

“Yeah.” Saruhiko smiled a little and watched as Misaki began to mirror his expression. “Then the adults won’t get mad and we can play together.”

“Saru’s gonna play with me?” he leaned his face close to the other's and grinned. “Saru can show me numbers again!”

“Sure, sure.” Saruhiko laughed. He didn’t really like anyone else in the orphanage but Misaki had a weird effect on him. He could laugh and smile and it was honestly one of the weirdest feelings – but it was a good one. “Now open up.”

Misaki opened his mouth and Saruhiko fed him carefully. They were both rather fast eaters but Misaki still had the small tendency to choke on his food when he got too excited. After the first bite he took the plate and spoon from Saruhiko and starting to feed himself, quickly getting it all over his face.

“Misaki, your face.” Saruhiko frowned, “It’s dirty again.”

He looked at Saruhiko and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “All better?”

“I guess.” Saruhiko shrugged and tapped the plate, putting Misaki’s focus onto the food. It worked, and soon the child had another spoonful of food in his mouth, and another, and another, and another…

“You’re going to choke Misaki!” Saruhiko took the spoon away and gave him a half-hearted glare.

“Igon’wat?” Misaki furrowed his eyebrows when he didn’t understand what he was saying himself.

“Choke.” Saruhiko said, putting the spoon back on the plate. “You’re gonna die.”

“I don’t wanna!” Misaki put the plate and spoon on the floor. “I’m done!” It was only about half the contents, but it was enough, Saruhiko thinks, since he barely ever eats all his food. They always gave him too much.

Saruhiko took the plate and spoon and started to finish it. “Wanna play a game now?”

“Number game!” Misaki exclaimed, pointing at the puzzle he was just working on. “I wanna do my number game!”

They each had their own set, Misaki with his simple addition and Saruhiko with multiplication and division. He sometimes used Misaki’s pieces to complicate his own problems a little, too. Saruhiko had all sorts of puzzle games and the other mostly had plushies and action figures, and a board game he could actually play without much trouble.

Misaki got up to pick up his own puzzle pieces while Saruhiko finished off their plate and put it by the door. It was an evening routine, almost: Totsuka would find Misaki and make him eat, he would go to Saruhiko and get fed by him and in turn he would have to eat too because Misaki never finishes his food. He hated it when Misaki ended up with a plate full of vegetables and he wouldn’t eat all of them, but it was amusing when they gave Misaki milk to drink instead of the usual apple juice.

“I got it!” Misaki pushed most of his pieces to the center of the room and grabbed the ones Saruhiko had used, adding it to the small pile with a triumphant smile. “Let’s play!”

“Okay, okay.” Saruhiko picked up two pieces and stuck them together. “One and two make?”

“Uhhh...” Misaki looked at his hands. Saruhiko had taught him a counting trick but he already forgot how to do it. He pointed to one finger and looked up at Saruhiko quizzically. “How did Saru count?”

“Like this.” Saruhiko took his hand and loosened his fingers. “So one,” he points to one finger as a cue for Misaki to raise it, “and two,” he does the same with the other hand, counting the number of fingers. “So one and two is?”

Misaki held up his hands. “This many!”

“How many?”

“Uh…” he stared at his fingers and started to count them. “One, three!”

“Well…” Saruhiko sighed. He was right, but his counting was really off. “It’s three yeah.”

“I did it!” Misaki hugged Saruhiko out of nowhere. “I wanna play more!”

“Okay two more, and then we play the color one okay?” Misaki knew his colors better, anyways.

“Okay okay!”

Saruhiko put two more pieces together. “One and one makes…?”

Misaki moved his fingers around a little and finally managed to get what he wanted. “This many!”

“Which is how much?”

“Uh…” Misaki stared at his fingers. “One?”

“No,” Saruhiko shook his head and pointed to one finger. “One….” He moves it to the other.

“Two!”

“Good job.” Saruhiko smiled and put together another pair of numbers. “What about two and two?”

Misaki repeated what he did the first two times and counted to fingers on each hand before showing it to Saruhiko. “That many!”

“What number?” Saruhiko pointed at one finger and motioned for Misaki to start counting out loud.

“One…” Saruhiko moved to his other finger. “Two… three… four!” Misaki exclaimed.

“Very good.” Saruhiko held his hand out for a high five and got a hug in return instead. It was a normal thing but it always surprised Saruhiko, and it left him with a warm and happy feeling every single time. “Want to play the color game now?” He asked, vaguely aware of the current time. Misaki usually went outside or watched TV when Saruhiko was too tired or too busy to play, and Misaki’s favorite TV show was about to come on soon, judging by the numbers on the clock.

“I wanna play with Saru!” Misaki smiled and wound his arms around Saruhiko’s neck. “Saru’s my best friend and I wanna play with Saru!”

Saruhiko couldn’t help but smile wider. “Go clean up okay?”

“Okay!” Misaki quickly pulled away and started picking the pieces up. Saruhiko went and grabbed the board game then waited patiently for Misaki, who was having a little trouble closing the box. When he finally got it to close, he shoved it under their bed and went to sit across from Saruhiko. “Let’s play!”

“Alright.” Saruhiko pulled out the board and lay it out in front of them. “Go get your piece.”

Misaki picked up the little red one and put it where he knew was the starting tile. It was simple; they had cards with colors and they just had to move the pieces accordingly. Sometimes they’d land on tiles where they would get sent back towards the beginning or closer to the end, too.

Saruhiko picked up the blue piece and placed it next to Misaki, setting the stack of cards onto the middle of the board. Misaki naturally went first, picking up the first card and showing it to Saruhiko excitedly. “I got green!”

“Move your piece to the green one, then.” Saruhiko said, pointing to the path they had to follow. Misaki started to move his piece until it landed on a green one, then smiled again.

“I’m gonna win!” Misaki laughed. Saruhiko sighed a little and picked his card, getting a red one and landing two spaces behind the other.

It went like this for quite some time, and Misaki did end up winning in the end. Saruhiko knew it was simply luck that he won but he can’t help but feel a little upset knowing he lost to a three-year-old. “Congrats.” Saruhiko said, his mood slowly lifting as he watched Misaki cheer for himself.

“I win!” Misaki laughed and smiled widely at him. “I won against Saru!”

“You did.” Saruhiko laughed along with him and looked at the time again. He was still not very good at telling time with the numberless clocks, but he figured Misaki would end up getting quite upset if he didn’t catch his favorite cartoon in the next few minutes. “Wanna go watch TV?”

“Yeah!” Misaki picked up his cards and put them on the pile of unused cards before giving all of them to Saruhiko. “I wanna watch with Saru!”

“You wanna do everything with me.” Saruhiko’s smile really didn’t want to drop at this point.

“Saru’s the best and I wanna be with Saru forever!” Misaki folded up the board and put it in the box before tossing the pieces in. “Saru’s gonna stay... right?”

“I’m staying with Misaki.” He replied matter-of-factly, putting the cards away and closing the box. He left it in the middle of the floor and took Misaki’s hand. “Let’s go watch TV okay?”

“Okay!” Misaki pulled Saruhiko off the floor and lead him towards a large recreational room, where there were already children huddled around the television watching whatever was on.

To their luck, Misaki’s favorite show has just begun and Misaki gasps in excitement before tugging Saruhiko onto a free space on the couch. Saruhiko sits down first and puts Misaki on his lap, hoping the kid could still see from where they were.

Misaki started to sing along to the opening song and Saruhiko takes the time to relax a little. His body felt a little sore today, but it wasn’t like he did any extra activities…

Except stay up a little late last night to make the perfect little cupcake for Misaki’s birthday. And attempt to sew something. But that’s no big deal.

He didn’t even know Misaki’s birthday was coming up, and it didn’t look like Misaki really knew, either. Misaki knew his birthdate for some reason, though, and everyone else just went along with it. It was tomorrow, and there wasn’t really anything special planned except for a small party held by none other than everyone’s favorite caretaker.

He vaguely wondered if the others would be there, too.

The opening song ends and Misaki’s attention is zeroed in on the television screen now. Saruhiko wants to close his eyes and sleep but Misaki’s bouncing around on his lap and talking excitedly about the show despite his words not completely reaching Saruhiko’s ears. At one point during the show Misaki leaned back and began to lay on Saruhiko, making Saruhiko fully aware of the kid on his lap. It was a comfortable feeling, knowing Misaki was right there, and he started smoothing Misaki’s hair back as they both watched the show.

“I wanna be like him when I’m bigger.” Misaki murmured, snuggling closer to Saruhiko. “I wanna make people happy too! And I wanna make Saru really happy!”

Saruhiko smiles at the words. “Misaki already makes me really happy.”

“I do??” Misaki turned to look up at him and smiles. “Saru is gonna always be happy because I’m here to make Saru happy!”

Saruhiko didn’t respond and instead pulled him in a little closer. He was really at a loss for words and honestly hoped Misaki would remember what he said when they got older.

“Saruuu!” Misaki squirmed and popped his head out to glare at him. “My nose!”

“Sorry, sorry.” Saruhiko patted his head and turned his attention back to the TV, his arms still wound around the other. Misaki’s attention went elsewhere, and he quickly forgot about the TV and instead stared at the floor sleepily while playing with Saruhiko’s hands.

“Saru?” Misaki asks, yawning a little.

“Hmm?”

“Why does your hand feel funny?”

“What do you mean?” Saruhiko takes one of his hands and looks at it, noticing the little dots from poking himself with a needle. “It’s okay, Misaki.”

“Saru’s not hurt?”

“I’m not hurt.”

“Is Saru suuuuure?”

Saruhiko laughs quietly and hugs Misaki. “Yes, I’m suuuuure.”

“… Okay.” Misaki continues to play with Saruhiko’s hand, obviously fighting to stay awake.

“Sleepy?” Saruhiko asks, already knowing the answer.

Misaki nods a little and turns to lay on Saruhiko. “I’m tired and sleepy.”

“Wanna go to bed?”

“I don’t wanna.” Misaki looks up at him again. “I wanna be with Saru more.”

Saruhiko, for whatever reason, blushes at that and looks away shyly. “I can go to bed with you if you want.”

“But Saru doesn’t look tired.” Misaki murmured, obviously fighting a yawn. He rubbed his eyes and sat up a little straighter.

Saruhiko laid Misaki back down, sighting a little. If he left Misaki like that he’d fall asleep eventually… hopefully. He was a small child, and Saruhiko vaguely remembered being this same way when he was little, before…

He shook his head. There’ll be none of that anymore and he won’t let Misaki face that too, even if it means keeping all prospective parents away from the both of them.

If either of them were going to get adopted, they’ll be adopted together.

Before they knew it the show was over and the rest of the kids went back into their rooms or visited someone else’s while Saruhiko was a little stuck with a baby on his lap. He doesn’t mind at all; watching Misaki sleep was something he found himself doing often while making sure he wasn’t getting sick or having nightmares. It was like having his own kid, almost, except he’d treat Misaki much better than anyone else would.

Totsuka, with his scary good timing, walks in with a broom and smiles at the sight of the both of them. “Need some help?”

He nodded, knowing Totsuka would take good care of him. When the adult put the broom down and had Misaki bundled up in his arms Saruhiko quickly got up to follow.

“... Thanks for taking care of him.” Totsuka said suddenly while putting Misaki down on the bed. “It’s supposed to be my job, but…”

“It’s okay.” Saruhiko sat at the edge and put Misaki’s special teddy bear in their arms. “There’s lots of kids here and the others are busy, and Misaki likes me so it’s okay.”

“He really does.” Totsuka laughs softly and ruffles Saruhiko’s hair. “You even potty-trained him for us, though.”

Saruhiko blushed at the memory. “It’s fine.”

“Anyways,” Totsuka got up and looked around the room before heading out. “get some rest too, it’s his birthday tomorrow.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Saru Saru Saru!”

Saruhiko wakes up to a bundle of auburn hair bouncing on him and groans. “What?”

“Pancakes!” Misaki stops bouncing and looks at him excitedly. “Totsuka and the big girl made pancakes!”

“You mean Anna?” Saruhiko asks, reaching for his glasses to look at Misaki properly.

“That one!” Misaki’s smile widens. “They made pancakes and there’s starberries and blue ones and there’s the cake with the lots of fruits too!”

Saruhiko was vaguely aware of what Misaki was talking about. He sat up and looked at the other sleepily, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes then gently pushing Misaki off so he could stand up. “Did you eat yet?”

“Tota said to get Saru.” Misaki frowned. “Hurry Saru! I wanna eat!”

Saruhiko padded down to the kitchen with Misaki in tow, who was excitedly bumping into him and hurrying him down the hall. "Hurry Saru!" Misaki exclaimed again, running ahead of him when the door to the dining room was in sight. "Pancakes and fruit cake!!"

It's been a while since Misaki had ever been this excited over anything. When he opened the doors, the two kids were instantly met with lots of chatter and the scent of fruits and pancakes. Saruhiko felt his stomach growl the instant the smell hit them.

"Misaki," Saruhiko smiled, "do you know what today is?"

"It's another day with Saru!" Misaki giggled. "Right?"

Saruhiko helped him up a chair. "It's Misaki's birthday remember?"

"Birthday?" Misaki turned to watch Saruhiko sit on the chair next to him. "My birthday?"

"Yeah." Saruhiko put a plate closer to Misaki. "Misaki's no three anymore."

"I'm not?" he frowned. "Is that bad...?"

"It means Misaki's four now." Saruhiko looked around and spotted Totsuka, along with some of the other helpers. They were about to bring something in, it seems.

"I'm four?" Misaki looked up at him excitedly. "I'm four I'm four!"

"You're four now." Saruhiko's attention went back to the child. "Happy birthday Misaki."

"Happy birthday me!" Misaki laughed. "And Saru is with me!"

"Of course I'm with Misaki." Saruhiko took his hand. "I'm always with Misaki."

Misaki's eyes seemed to light up even brighter. His face breaks into a wide grin and he's almost vibrating in his seat as he reaches out to hug Saruhiko. The older one catches the birthday boy midway in a tight embrace, silently hoping Misaki could feel his love.

"Saru's the best!" Misaki hugged him tighter. "And I'm hungry and Saru's hungry right?"

"Yeah."

"Eat!" Misaki pulled away and gave him a bigger smile, turning to his plate and helping himself to a small pancake. Saruhiko followed suit, taking his own already-filled plate and poking at all the contents before choosing how to eat it.

The birthday boy finished his food much earlier than Saruhiko and started talking to the other children and caretakers, thanking everyone that greets him and sharing his blinding smile with everybody in the room. At one point Anna even picked Misaki up, surprising him at the same time making him laugh uncontrollably; she was taller than Saruhiko and could lift him up a little higher than he ever could, and every couple of inches counted for someone that small.

It made Saruhiko a little jealous, but it’s not like Misaki liked her more than he liked him… probably.

“Happy birthday!” Misaki exclaimed, laughing along with the other kids when he greeted himself.

“It’s Misaki’s birthday.” Anna said quietly. “Happy birthday.”

“Happy birthday!” Misaki exclaims again, smiling widely. “Thank you!”

“Does Misaki want to see Mikoto?” She suddenly asks, making Saruhiko pale a little.

He looks between Anna and Saruhiko and shakes his head. “Mikko sleeps a lot and that’s boring.” He says, looking down guiltily.

“That’s okay.” Anna gives him a soft smile. She was one of the orphans here not too long ago, and while not a lot of the kids particularly liked Mikoto, she spent a lot of time with him whenever he came to visit one of the managers here. She ended up getting adopted at one point, and ever since then she’s visited whenever Mikoto came to visit, too.

Saruhiko didn’t particularly like him, but Misaki seemed to have taken a liking to him. It doesn’t make him happy, but he’s positive he won’t ever ask Mikoto to adopt him so it’s fine for now.

Another one of the other caretakers came out – Kamamoto, Saruhiko thinks his name is - and handed everyone a small fruit tart – or as Misaki called them, ‘fruit cake’. Saruhiko took it form Kamamoto with a quiet word of thanks, took a bite, then got interrupted by Misaki, who managed to get out of Anna’s arms at some point to start babbling once again.

He turns to Kamamoto and thanks him with a hug before returning to stand next to Saruhiko. “Fruit cakes!” Misaki exclaimed, shoving his in Saruhiko’s face. “Look Saru! I told you!”

“Mmh.” Saruhiko pushed Misaki’s tart away from his face and bit into his again before offering it to him. As good as the treat was, Saruhiko wasn’t very into sweet food and he knew Misaki would appreciate it much more than he could.

Misaki noticed and instantly shoved his entire tart in his mouth, taking Saruhiko’s and putting it on the table. “Ahoo!” He gave Saruhiko a big, tart-y smile.

“Swallow before you talk, Misaki.” Saruhiko sighed and handed him a napkin to wipe his mouth with. He took it gratefully and began wiping his entire face with it as he attempted to chew through the tart he still had in his mouth. It wasn’t an uncommon sight to see, honestly.

Once he finished his own tart, Misaki started eating through Saruhiko’s tart more slowly, picking off the fruits before eating the rest of it. It surprised Saruhiko just how much Misaki absolutely loved vegetables, and was half-glad he didn’t feel the same for vegetables. He’d probably go crazy seeing vegetables everywhere…

“Saru!” Misaki was suddenly in his arms again. “I want more!”

“Well you can’t have any yet Misaki.” Totsuka chimed in, scaring the two of them. “It’s too early for that many sweets.”

“But I want more!” He frowned. “They’re yummy!”

“They are, aren’t they?” Totsuka laughed, holding his arms out for Misaki. He let the adult pick him up, tossing him into the air a couple of times before settling in his arms. “How about you go play with everyone now?”

“But what about Saru?” Misaki looks between the two of them, confused.

“I have to borrow Saru-chan for a minute okay?” He smiled and put him down. “He’ll be back very soon, I promise.”

He looks to Saruhiko and frowns. “Why?”

“Because Saru-chan forgot something and needs to go get it before it’s too late!” Totsuka ushered Misaki towards the play area. “Okay? Look, Aka-chan and Eririn are there with the kids.”

Both of the kids turn to peek through the door and sure enough, Akagi and Eric were messing around with the kids, carrying a couple while making weird dinosaur sounds. It excited Misaki, apparently, because before any of them knew it Misaki had bolted out of the dining room and towards where the other children were.

Totsuka looked to Saruhiko. “You forgot to sew the ears on your bear.” He said, pointing to the cabinet that had the words “KEEP OUT” written on a panel. “Wanna fix it before you give it to him?”

Saruhiko blushed and looked down. “Oh…”

“It’s okay.” Totsuka ruffled his hair. “He’ll still love your present.”

He doesn’t answer and hops off the chair, heading to the cabinet and climbing a chair to get to his bear. “Where’s the cupcake?”

“It’s in the fridge still.” Totsuka made a gesture towards it.

“Okay.” Saruhiko pulled out the bear, ears, a needle, and some thread before closing the cabinet and hopping down. Totsuka closed the dining room door to give him privacy and walked out through the kitchen door, leaving Saruhiko in silence as he finished his gift to Misaki.

The other child, on the other hand, was busy trying to hop on Akagi’s back. As much as he loved Saruhiko’s carries, Akagi was much taller and he even had a hat he could take and put on himself. It was much too big for him, and it often covered most of his face when he tried to put it on, but it still made him happy and he could still -barely – see out the bottom part of his eye, anyways.

“Whoa there, bud!” Akagi said when Misaki began to sway. “You’re going to fall and that’s gonna hurt!”

“Aka-chan will save me!” He giggled but stopped swaying anyways. “And Eririn!”

“I’ll what?” Eric mumbled, trying to get two other kids to calm down.

“Eririn will save me!”

“… Ah.” Eric gave him a sideways glance and fixed the hat, turning it backwards so it was no longer in his face.

“I can see lots of things!” Misaki exclaimed, laughing louder. “I’m bigger than everyone!”

“You’re a big kid now, Misaki!” Akagi grinned. “You’re going to be bigger than all of us someday!”

“Pft.” Eric tried to hold in his smile. “As if he’ll ever be taller than us.”

“Well, you never know.” Akagi shrugged. “Kids have a lot of room to grow.”

“But he’s _tiny_.” Eric sighed. “Like, unusually tiny.”

“He’s a _kid_. And _four_.” Akagi gave him a look. “I mean seriously, you can’t judge anyone’s size at this age.”

“What?” Misaki tilted his head, confused. “I’m not big…?”

“You are, you are!” Akagi moved Misaki to a more comfortable position. “Eric thinks you’re small though.”

He pouted. “I’m not little…”

“Yes you are.” Eric patted his head. “If Akagi puts you down you’ll be really tiny.”

“But…” He looked down sadly.

“Eric!” Akagi elbowed him harshly. “You’re making him sad.”

“Sorry, sorry.” He sighed and looked away. “But either way he’s small.”

“Eririn’s mean.” Misaki grumbled, squirming around and trying to get off. “I wanna find Saru now!”

“Saruhiko’s a little busy.” Akagi rubbed the back of his neck. “How about you bug Kamamoto?”

“Kama?”

“Yeah!” He grinned. “He’s probably helping Anna bake a cake for later.”

“Then shouldn’t he _not_ bother them?” Eric mumbled, walking a ways away to start cleaning up the place.

“That’s right…” Akagi sighed. “I guess almost everyone’s busy, Misaki.”

“But…” He frowned. “But I wanna play with someone…”

The other kids were outside playing and Misaki didn’t want to be too far from Saruhiko. He didn’t like it at all when Saruhiko went looking for him, so he always tried to stay close. Akagi knew him fairly well and didn’t push the kid to go outside with everyone, instead opting to turn the TV on and letting him watch cartoons until Saruhiko’s ready to play again. The room was relatively quiet save for the sounds from the TV and toys getting knocked together from clean-up, but it was a comfortable silence and the two adults were just glad Misaki hadn’t ended up crying.

A while after Misaki had fallen asleep from watching a boring cartoon, Saruhiko tip-toed into the room with the completed teddy bear in his arms. It was cream-colored, a little lopsided, and had a lot of imperfections, but Saruhiko made it the best he could and hoped Misaki would treat it well until he could make an even better one.

Would he like it? Misaki loves teddy bears, but what if he doesn’t like Saruhiko’s because it doesn’t look good? What if he rejected it? What if –

He shook his head. Misaki would never do any of those. Instead of wallowing in his world of what-ifs, he sat on the couch and quietly watched TV while waiting for the other to wake up. He considered waking him, but Misaki’s grumpy when forced awake and wasn’t sure it was a good idea.

Akagi and Eric were still quietly cleaning, and came to sit with them when they finished. Akagi talked to Eric about their plans for later and what to do when their shift is over, but Saruhiko couldn’t be bothered to listen as he too began to get a little sleepy from doing nothing but watch a show about a child exploring whatever was on their map.

Despite knowing how bad of an idea it might be to wake Misaki up, he was tired and he didn’t want to fall asleep so he started to play with the bear’s arms and poked Misaki a couple of times, gauging how bad of a mood the other would be if he woke up. There was no response, however, so Saruhiko continued to poke him in random places until he stirred little.

“Naah….” Misaki swatted at the arm and tried to curl into a ball.

“Misaki.” Saruhiko murmured, hoping his voice alone would wake him up safely.

“No...” Misaki mumbled and rolled to face the other side of the couch. “No play.”

“Yes play.” Saruhiko pushed him a little. “It’s too early for naptime.”

“But I don’t wannaaaaa!” Misaki whined, moving to sit up grumpily. “I won’t wanna.”

“But Misaki,” he held up the bear, “look who’s here to play with you.”

He stares at it for along moment before giving Saruhiko a confused look. “… eh?”

Saruhiko frowns and looks down. “Misaki doesn’t like it…?”

“I didn’t see that one yet…” he took the bear and shook it a little. “Is it brand new?”

“I made it…” he mumbled. “Because Misaki likes teddy bears… so I made Misaki one.”

Misaki stares at the bear for a little while longer before breaking out into a grin. “Saru made me a teddy bear!?”

“Yeah…” He looked up and smiled when he saw how happy the other was. “Happy birthday Misaki.”

Sometime during the interaction Akagi and Eric had moved elsewhere, and it was just the two of them, but as much as Saruhiko likes privacy, he’s still really embarrassed about giving Misaki a raggedy looking teddy bear and tries to hide his face in his hands. He can hear Misaki squealing and playing with the bear and it takes Saruhiko all his willpower not to stare at the cuteness in front of him.

“Saru got me a present! Saru made the present!” Misaki was clearly overjoyed, and after hugging the life out of it he pulled Saruhiko’s hands away from his face and hugged him tightly, repeating the words “thank you” over and over again until Saruhiko finally smiled and hugged him back.

He was honestly not used to this feeling. The love and happiness the smaller kid contained was so much - and it was all for him.

His father would have never let him know what this felt like.

“Saru’s the best!” Misaki said, speaking over Saruhiko’s thoughts and causing him to look at the other. “Saru gave me numbers and TV and bathrooms and food and teddy bear!”

He blushed again and looked away. He didn’t really understand what Misaki was talking about but he got enough to know he was trying to count all the things he’s ever taught him.

And he still had one more thing to give him.

He waited for Misaki to move away and continue to play with the bear before hopping off the couch and telling him to stay there a minute. Misaki obeyed and Saruhiko quickly made his way to the refrigerator to pull out the cupcake he had made a couple of days ago. It was a simple vanilla cake topped with strawberry flavored icing; nothing showy, but it still tasted good… he thinks.

When he got back to the couch Misaki was already on the floor making the bear walk around another toy he had found elsewhere. Saruhiko’s footprints made him stop, though, and when he looked up all he could really see was the cupcake hiding Saruhiko’s face. “Cake???”

“A cupcake.” He mumbled. “I made it too.”

“Saru made the cupcake and not Anna or Tota or Kamo?”

“… Yeah.” He sat down next to him and held the cupcake out. “It’s not like the fruit tart though…”

“The fruit cake?” He takes the cupcake and licks the top of it, smiling widely when the strawberry flavor hit.

“It’s a cupcake.” He said, watching Misaki lick through the icing before biting the cake. “They’re like little cakes.”

“Cupcake!” Misaki pulled off a piece of cake and gave it to Saruhiko. “It’s really yummy look!”

He took it and popped it into his mouth; even without the icing it _did_ taste pretty good. Not that he was proud of it, nope.

It was still a little before lunchtime but since it’s Misaki’s birthday he doesn’t think he’ll get in trouble for eating so many sweets so early in the morning. Besides, it’s a birthday present so it’s not like he’s spoiling him _every_ day.

Misaki puts the cupcake wrapper on the floor and continues to play with the bear, humming some song from a TV show and making it dance. “His name is gonna be Sarubear.” He says matter-of-factly, looking to Saruhiko with a toothy grin. “Cause Saru made him!”

“Oh.” Saruhiko tried to hide the smile. “It’s a… good name.”

“It’s the best name!” He exclaimed, moving to sit on his lap and continuing to play with the bear. “Sarubear is gonna be my favorite teddy bear and he’ll always go to bed with me!”

“Really?” Saruhiko pinched his cheek lightly, earning a pout from the other.

“Sarubear is special!” Misaki stuck his tongue out. “It’s the only Sarubear in the world!”

“It is.” Saruhiko didn’t hide his smile this time. He was glad Misaki loved the bear despite how badly it looks. Someday he’ll make an even better one, one that’ll look perfect and with stitches that hopefully last forever….

“Saru Saru!” Misaki called out to him, waving a bear arm in his face. “I wanna go play outside with Saru!”

“Sarubear is gonna get dirty though.” Saruhiko frowned. “Then he can’t go to bed with you.”

“I’ll put Sarubear to sleep first!” He got up and took Saruhiko’s hand, tugging him off the floor. “Let’s goooo!”

“Okay, okay!” He couldn’t help but laugh at his impatience. He took the cupcake wrapper and stuffed it in his pocket before getting up. As much as he appreciated having people clean up after them, it felt wrong to not pick up after themselves.

“Bedroom then outside!” Misaki pulled him to the hallway then into their bedroom, where Misaki’s other bears were already ‘put to sleep’. He set Sarubear on the pillow instead of the side of the bed with the others, and smiled up at Saruhiko before taking his hand once more.

“Play?” Misaki asked again, his bright eyes focused on Saruhiko.

He squeezed his hand and smiled. “Yeah, let’s play.”

“Yay!” Misaki tugged his hand towards the door. “We can play numbers in the sand, right?”

“Of course.” He tugged Misaki back a little to plant a soft kiss on the top of his head. The birthday boy looks at him and smiles widely and Saruhiko smiles back.

_Anything for you._ Saru thought, making a silent promise to make Misaki's birthdays extra special just to see that smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand that's it! Thanks [Sam](https://twitter.com/Yuun_Kingdom) for putting up with my complaining and for reading it and for literally everything else you've given me, and thank you all for bothering to read this silly story!
> 
> Again, Happy Birthday Misaki!


End file.
